Mass Audubon Weighing Appeal Options After Termination of $25M Grant to Protect 10,000 Acres in Connecticut River Watershed

At the exact moment in time we should be accelerating the pace of land conservation, the Trump administration has terminated a $25 million grant—the largest federal grant in Mass Audubon’s 129-year history—that stymies the protection of 10,000 acres of vital forests and wetlands in the Connecticut River Watershed.

Mass Audubon is considering all its options to challenge the termination of this U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant, which was part of an historic $1.5 billion commitment to 92 conservation projects around the country as part of the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, and represented a partner-driven approach to conservation that funds solutions to natural resource challenges on working lands, including our farms and forests. In addition to protecting 10,000 acres of carbon-rich and biodiverse forests and wetlands, this funding would have fostered partnerships with landowners to restore forest habitat by removing dams, restoring floodplain forests, and engaging in other restorative land management practices.

“This grant epitomized government efficiency and effectiveness because it not only would’ve protected 10,000 acres that safeguards the public’s drinking water and benefits wildlife, but it would have leveraged tens of millions of private funds. Notably, working lands would have remained in the hands of private farmers,” said David O’Neill, President and CEO of Mass Audubon. “Terminating grants that conserve our forests, keep working lands working, act as a flood protection buffer for communities, and leverage millions from other funding sources simply makes no sense, and represents a loss for all of us.”

Mass Audubon’s grant also included money that would have ensured results were measurable. Mass Audubon had partnered with the Center for Geospatial Solutions at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to develop a new measurement and monitoring approach for private landowners to evaluate the conservation outcomes of the work, using field measurements, LiDar, satellite imaging, and AI machine learning to measure and monitor carbon, biodiversity, flood resilience, and other project benefits that would have been generated from land protection and restoration. 

The grant included partnerships with Kestrel Land Trust, Mt. Grace Land Conservation Trust, Hilltown Land Trust, East Quabbin Land Trust, Connecticut River Conservancy, Trout Unlimited, and the Connecticut River Watershed Partnership.

In addition to Mass Audubon’s grant, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs was stripped of a $20.8 million USDA grant that would have ramped up the pace of land conservation across the Commonwealth and been vital to achieve the state’s goal of protecting 30 percent of land by 2030.

With vital federal funds increasingly at risk of termination despite being previously approved, it is more important than ever that Massachusetts—and environmental groups in the Commonwealth—take the necessary steps ensure there is adequate funding to meet the state’s 30x30 nature and climate goals.

On July 1, the Nature for Massachusetts Coalition spoke in front of the state’s Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources to support An Act Providing Nature for All (H.901 – Representatives Blais and Montaño and S.597 – Senator Feeney), calling for the allocation of a portion of the revenue generated from sales taxes on sporting goods to be invested in nature and climate, resulting in an estimated $100M for nature and climate every year without any increase in taxes.

Mass Audubon also launched, and is still actively fundraising for, its $75M 30x30 Catalyst Fund to accelerate the pace of land conservation in Massachusetts and leverage public commitments with generous support from the private sector.

“The importance of these conservation projects and protecting natural lands is paramount,” O’Neill said. “Even if the current administration terminates funding for nature, it’s our responsibility to do whatever we can to continue the necessary work that protects wildlife and their habitats, keeps our air and water clean, and makes the region more resilient to the negative impacts of climate change.”